Giants' Alec Ogletree, who knows he needs to step up his play, gets tough challenge this week going against Bears' Tarik Cohen

Alec Ogletree was Dave Gettleman’s first big acquisition as Giants GM in a March trade with the L.A. Rams, and the defensive co-captain is the first person to admit he expects more from himself than what he’s shown this season.

Advertisement

“Personally, I feel like I’ve done OK, but definitely not to the standards where I hold myself, to make plays and go out there and be a leader like that and step up in those big moments,” Ogletree, 27, told the Daily News Thursday. “I put a lot on myself to go out there and make those plays and be that guy for us.”

Ogletree was acquired, though, to be a leader and one of 11 key ingredients to what the Giants had hoped would be an improved defense. The veteran linebacker was never supposed to be a game-wrecker on which coordinator James Bettcher’s entire scheme was based.

Alec Ogletree hasn't lived up to his standards this season as he's been forced to lead inexperienced group. (Adam Hunger / AP)

But with defensive tackle Damon Harrison traded and a ton of young and inexperienced players seeing significant playing time around him, more is expected of Ogletree. And Ogletree struggled in particular in last week’s loss to Philadelphia, missing some tackles, failing to get off a block or losing an assignment in coverage.

And Sunday’s game against the Bears (8-3) presents a unique challenge in Chicago’s 5-foot-6 burner back Tarik Cohen, a matchup nightmare with 66 rushes, 47 catches and six TDs.

Chicago Bears' running back Tarik Cohen (Mark Black / AP)

“He’s a guy they use all over the field,” Ogletree said. “Sometimes he’s split out as a wide receiver, sometimes he’s at running back. He’s versatile, has a lot of speed and he’s pretty small, so it’s hard to see him behind the line. And he does a good job finding space and using it to his advantage.

“So for us it’s just making sure we get all 11 guys around him to condense the space around him to make tackles and hopefully make him block or something. I don’t know,” Ogletree said with a smile.

This season is over for the Giants (3-8), but Ogletree’s performance matters in the long term.

The Giants traded a compensatory fourth-round pick and sixth-rounder in the 2017 draft for Ogletree and a Rams 2019 seventh-rounder, and in the process they inherited Ogletree’s pricey contract extension.

Ogletree already collected a $6 million 2019 roster bonus last spring, for a season when he’ll count $11.75 million against the cap. Then after the guaranteed money runs out, he carries cap hits of $11.75 million and $10.75 million in the final two years of the deal, per overthecap.com.

It definitely hasn’t been all bad. Ogletree has 68 tackles, one sack, four passes defended and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

Bettcher loves Ogletree’s veteran leadership and example. And remember, plenty of people in and around the Rams were not happy to see him traded off that team. The Rams are winning, but Ogletree was well-liked and respected there as a leader on that defense.

But as Bettcher said Thursday, some of his Giants players are “pressing” to try and make plays instead of sticking to their assignments, and Ogletree probably has been guilty of that at times, too. Opposing offenses have schemed running backs and tight ends successfully on him at times in pass coverage, and he needs to defend those plays better to deter that tactic.

“It’s been a long year; we’ve got new faces, young guys, it makes it a little tough,” Ogletree said. “But we have to take the good with the bad and keep pushing forward … You still have your instincts and making plays, but you have to balance that with doing your job as best as you can and trusting your teammate to do his.”